What To Do If Your Uber Driver Hits On You

As women, we are always on alert. Walking home from the bus stop every night with our keys between our fingers, calling our friends or partners so they know where we are, and constantly looking over our shoulder – our spidey-senses are always tingling from threat of being assaulted.

So when you fork out some extra dollars to take the “safe way” home, you can’t help but feel angry and scared when your trusted ride service becomes an uncomfortable situation of unwanted attention.

'I thought I was about to be murdered'

“In an effort to extort more money from our journey, my driver took me all across Sydney and off the predetermined route Uber had mapped out,” Jessica, 27, tells whimn.com.au.

“On the app, you can watch your journey as it progresses, a little black car moving steadily along a planned blue line. When I realised we had gone a different way, and looked out the window to see we were driving through a deserted industrial estate at 3am, I started to panic.

"I changed my ride destination to a very public spot and jumped out of the car. In the end, a $10 journey cost nearly four times as much – but I was relieved. I spent the ride fearing my driver wanted to take advantage of me in a different way.”

Uber has seen its share of driver scandals. Picture: AP/Seth WenigSource:APSource:Whimn

Bad apples

Though 99.9% of Uber drivers are absolutely lovely and follow the rules of conduct and professionalism required by Uber, there is a remaining 0.01% of bad apples that result in women feeling unsafe. And really, it’s no surprise we do because when you think about it, it is strange that we Uber users entrust untrained strangers to drive us around simply because they operate via a sleek, shiny app.

As it turns out, that 0.01% of creeps have been causing quite a bit of trouble. From February 2016 to February 2017, there were 48 alleged sex attacks by Uber drivers reported to the police in London alone. That works out at nearly one attack by an Uber driver in London a week.

A close call

Amy, 31 recalls an experience that she and a friend went through a few months ago: “Myself and three friends went out recently in Melbourne and decided to call it a night at about 11:30pm. We all jumped in an Uber together and exited at different areas on the way to the final destination.

"The driver seemed to focus a lot on one of my friends in particular, and made small talk but my friend categorically stated she was not in the mood for talking. He insisted and made other uncomfortable remarks about her outfit, looks etc..

"She told me after that when the rest of the passengers were gone, the driver told my friend: 'Good, now I get to spend more time with you.' When she told the driver to drop her off at the store, the driver said 'Hey good timing, I should take a break too.'

"So after dropping her off, he parked the car and tailed her though the store. When she went to the counter, the driver stood behind her. She dashed back to the shelves and thankfully the store was big enough that she was able to hide. The driver went outside but kept his eyes on the store. My friend had to call her sister to take her to a restaurant where they could hide. It took a while before the driver finally left.”

Image: iStock.Source:Whimn

So what can you do when your driver crosses the line?

If your driver is hitting on you and making you feel uncomfortable, you should ask them to stop. If they don't, tell them you will report them to Uber CS. Uber does not take things like this lightly and in most cases would probably just deactivate the driver on the spot so that he is unable to do it again and possibly cause Uber legal and/or media issues.

Uber has had enough bad driver stories that they do all they can to avoid more.

If you feel in danger, just ask to be let off at the next safest public place and get out. Remember you have your phone in your hand and you can end the ride at anytime by hitting cancel your ride, which you can do even while the vehicle is still in motion.

The driver is required to end the trip the moment you hit end on your app. You are in control.